Jin Asukai
|image1 = JinAsukai_novel.png|Novel JinAsukai_anime.png|Anime |kanji = 飛鳥井 仁 |kana = あすかい じん |rōmaji = Asukai Jin |epithet = "Imaginator" |species = MPLS |gender = Male |age = College-Aged |status = Alive |hair_color = Brown |eye_color = Brown |occupation = College Student Part-Time Art Teacher School Councilor |relatives = Kotoe Kinukawa (Cousin) |novel_debut = Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 1 |anime_debut = Boogiepop and Others Episode 4 |japanese_voice = Yoshimasa Hosoya (Boogiepop and Others 2019) |english_voice = Mike McFarland Mikaela Krantz (Young) }} Jin Asukai (飛鳥井 仁, Asukai Jin) is an antagonist of Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 1. He is an MPLS, a college student and part-time art teacher and councilor at a cram school. He was persuaded by the Imaginator to pursue her goal of re-shaping society, after she was defeated by Boogiepop. Personality Jin appears to be a calm and collected individual. He is a highly intelligent person, and is seen by his students as a kind man, who gives all of them motivation in their time of need. But in reality, Jin hides a cynical and nihilistic world view, born from his power of seen the strengths and weaknesses of other people's hearts. As he has never seen anyone able to fix the weaknesses inside of their souls, no matter how much work they put into it. Because of this, Jin has developed a belief that nobody can ever achieve true happiness, as they can never truly fix their flaws. Although Jin can easily find the things to say to temporarily motivate students going through tough times, in his mind he always knows how the students will find failure in their future, based on the flaws he saw in their personality. This is why, when the Imaginator showed him that there was a way to create a world where people's flaws can be fixed and true happiness can actually be achieved, it didn't take long for Jin to join her and help her cause. From a young age, Jin showed great artistic talent, far beyond his age, which his father used to gain money. Jin never seemed to mind, always showing great maturity, even more so than the adults. Kotoe Kinukawa, Jin's cousin, first fell in love with him the first time they met, when he showed an aura of complexity that made the depressed girl find some comfort in her life. Although she gravely misunderstood Jin's true nature, he still loved her as a family member and did his best to protect her, as, after his father's death, she was left as the only person that mattered to him in his life. Appearance JinAsukai design.png Jin is a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes. He almost always wears his white suit, over a blue shirt, and white pants. In the anime, he has his hair parted to one side, and wears a similar white suit and pants, except for his undershirt, which is gray instead of blue. Background Jin's father was the brother of a man named Kinukawa, who achieved high success in his businesses, being a highly wealthy land-owner. His brother, however, wasn't so fortunate in his escapades, often having to borrow money from Kinukawa, which made him despise his brother. However, at some point, Jin's father realized that his son had a high talent in art, and used him to get into the business of appraising the future worth of paintings, and buying them, in order to sell them later. Having hit the jackpot, Jin's father came to return the money he owned his brother. During this meeting, a young Jin first met Kotoe Kinukawa, his uncle's daughter, who quickly fell in love with him. Jin easily realized the girl's feelings, but never acted or responded to them. Later, Jin's father visited a restaurant with his son. Unbeknownst to both of them at the time, the meal they got was one of the random portions spiked with some drug by the Towa Organization, which wanted to test its effects. The two left the restaurant, and Jin's father soon died in the middle of the street, for no apparent reason. The police also couldn't find any clues about the man's death, due to the Towa Organization's influence. Left without a family, Kinukawa was begrudgingly took in the man. Jin continued his relatively average life, until he had a vision of a floating girl, which was later revealed to be the Imaginator. Abilities *'Seeing People's Hearts:' Jin Asukai's main MPLS ability is to see the hearts of people, in the form of a flower. Each part of the flower represents a component of the owner's personality, and Jin has never seen someone with a complete flower, as every person he encountered had some part absent. Until he encountered the Imaginator, he couldn't change anyone's hearts, or make anyone complete. However, after his involvement with her, he was able to not only change people's hearts, but remove whatever components he wishes, and replace them however he wants. Doing this, he was able to find a way to create people with "complete" hearts, which supposedly made them achieve absolute happiness. Jin is unable to see his own heart, and so while he can very easily analyze others, he doesn't know what specific part he himself lacks. The only other person he met that he was unable to see the heart of was Boogiepop. Story Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 1 Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 2 Boogiepop Missing: Peppermint Wizard Beat's Discipline Trivia *Jin's last name, Asukai, is written with the characters for "scatter", "bird" and "well". *Jin's first name means "benevolence". *When he explains his power, Jin references the book "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, quoting the line "The boy was beautiful because he had a rose in his heart". References Category:Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Male Category:MPLS Category:Third Civilization Characters